The 46-year-old actor - who was replaced by the 33-year-old star after he was sacked from the show earlier this year following erratic behavior - found it "bizarre" watching the program after spending seven years on it, but he was "really impressed".

He told 'Access Hollywood': "It was a big night for everybody on Monday night - for 'Two and a Half',' for us, for me.

"I think everybody won. I thought the show was really good. I thought [Ashton] was terrific.

"It was a little bizarre watching it, but yeah, for the most part I was really impressed with what they did."

Charlie expects 'Two and a Half Men' to be a success without him and admitted it felt like watching a completely new show.

Singling out his former co-star Jon Cryer - who plays Alan Harper - he added: "Jon is Jon. He's a freaking genius. I think [the show has] got a real shot. It felt like a pilot. It felt like a really good pilot."

The first episode of the series - which attracted around 27.8 million viewers - began with Charlie's alter-ego's funeral after his character was killed by a subway train in Paris - and it is not going to be the first time this year the 46-year-old star will see his own memorial service played out onscreen.

He explained: "That's got to be the highest attended funeral of all time. And it's interesting because I'm doing [a] film with Roman Coppola and there is a funeral scene in that. So I'm a guy that's gonna have to survive my own funeral twice in the same year!